Improvement in railway-car coupling



1. BLAKENEY.

Car Coupling. i

l Y.Paltented Ma'y 1.7, 1870..l

JAMnfsFBLAKENun or srinINcrInLn,.on1o.

`Leners PatentNo.'1os,13o, camz May 17, 1ero.

MPRovnMnNr INA RAILWAY-GAR coUPLING.

` 1 The Schedule referred to ln these Letters' Patent and making part of the same To all whom it may concern r Be' it known thathl', JAMESBLAKENEY, of Springtfield. in the countyl'otf Clark and State ofr Ohio, have invented ce1-tain i I'rri1 )rov"einents in Automatic, Car- .Ooupling's.; and Ido hereby de'clare that the f'ollowing isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference i `being had `tothe annexed r drawings'making part of .this specilication, in which- Figure r1 isa lohgitudinal sectional elevation of two buffer-heads for coupling Icars together, constructed according to Lmyimproved plan, the arrangement of the parts being clearly shown therein.V

Figure 2 isa plan or top` View of one of the buffers shown infig. 1, a portion of the spring being broken away,lto show the` chain which connects the bufferhead to the main-stay or brace which extends under `the car from. one bu'er to the other.

Figure is a front-end view, showing the couplingpin in position.

.Figure'4isa vertical section-al elevation of a portionof the buffer, showing the devices for holding the y `coupling-pin in itselevated position. i

i Corresponding `letters ,in the several figures'.

This invention relates to that class of devices which aeltermed automatic car-couplings.; and

It consists in the construction, combination', andarrefeg to corresponding parts rangement of its part s as willbe more fully explained hereinafter.

i The great desirableness of i an automatic car-coupe ling which will with certainty connect cars to each other when placed in the proper positions, and which will not allow them to become'detached when in motion, has long been "felt and acknowledged; and the object of this invention' is to supply this want by pro,-

viding the means of holding the coupling-pin of one car and the link of another in such positions that, I when the' two are brought together with any considerable degree of'jforce, the operation of coupling shall be automatically, and yet certainly performed, and, at the same time,the'partsnecessary to perform the act of coupling be placed in such positions as to render it impossible thatthe cars should become detached from eachother while in motion without the breaking or derangementotl the parts; fthe-unconpling orfdetaching of the cars at theproper time nbeing accomplished in the mostiapproved and usual manner by withdipwing an ordinary coupling-pin.

To enable those skilled in the art `to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its lconstruction an operation. y

A iu the drawingsrefers to a bufer'vhead, which maybe of cast or wrought" metahand ofthe form shown in the drawings; or its form may be varied, .to i adapt it toany form of frame-in which it maybe placed.

In any event, it is to have the recess lor cavity inits front or outer end,for the reception ofthe couplinglink, the levers and slide which hold the coupling-pin, and a hole through the upper and lower portions thereof, through which -to insert such coupling-pin. VThe `rear ends of the bars or'plates constituting the rear yor inner portion of the head are to be united by a plate, as shown, for the purpose of strengthening them,

. andrforthe. further purpose of permitting the chain which unites said'head to ythe main brace orstay-rod, which unites the buffers upon the two ends of the car, to be attached thereto.

B refers to a frame of metal, which is to be'con-A structed as shown in fig. 2, 'or so that the buffer-head' A shall move freely within the same. This frame is to be attached to the body orplatform of the car, as

shown at G O in fig. l, and is to be provided with slots in its sides, for the reception of bolts or pins, which support vthe bner-head therein, and upon which it moves longitudinally. The rear ends of thebars or plates composing this frame are joined together, as

shown, and the bolt which holds 'the chain F' passes v,through it. v

D refers to acoupling-pin, which may be of any api proved form of construction, and be attached to the butter-head, or the f raine which carries it, by a1 chain, Y in the usual manner.

Dl refers to a coupling-link, which is to be of the usual kzidfbut of the required length to come in contact. with the swinging frame D, as shown-in fig. 1.

Di refers to a slide, which is made to -it and yslide in gndes'attached to the upper surface of the aperture 'in the .bner-head, as shown in g. 3, its rear or innerend being attached to the lever D3, by which` it is moved. At the point in this slide which comes directly under the hole through whichl the coupling-pinV passes,- when the parts, are Vin the Apositions shown in lig. 1, there is to be formed an aperture, which should be a little larger than the pinitself, so that, when the parts are in the positions shown in iig. 4, the couplingpinshall rest upon such slide, and be held in the po-b sition shown in that ligure. y

Dn refers to a 1ever,`w hich is pivoted to the.` sides of the builer-he'ad, as shown in fig. 4, its lower .end extending down throughthe bottom of the b'uifer-head,

and carries upon its lower end a spring, D5, which,-

when it'is `desired to secure *,the parts inthe position shown in fig. 4, or so that'they-will hold tlrecoupli'ngpin inthe proper position for dropping when the cars are brought together, hooks over a projectonon the underside of the head, and holdsthem in such position. The upper end of this bar projects above the upper surface of the head, so that it may be operated by the hand of thc attendant, and the parts be 'by it placed so as to hold the p in suspended, andIv also hold vling-link in its place when. it has been inserted, and

the lever D3 has been carried tothe position shown in fig. 1, in order that it may with certainty enter the ,cavity in the head of the other car, and, at the same time, come in contact with ,the swinging frame in such car, and thus 'withdraw the slide sutlicientiy to permit the piu to drop, and thus eect the coupling of the ears without the necessity of the attendant placing himself between such cnrs at the risk of his life. In the act of coupling or connecting the cars, the link will be released from the control of the lever and swinging frame, and thus it will be free to move about in thecavity in the buffer-heads, so as to leave it free to accommodate itself to the m'ovementsof such heads caused by the uneven surface of the road.

E refers to a spring, which is placed between the rear end of the buffer-head and the frame in which it moves, it being attachedthereto by having its ends bent, so as to pass into holes formed therein; or it may be attached in any other convenient manner. The

,form of spring represented in the drawings is the spiral form, but any other spring maybe used, if preferred.

F F refer to eye-bolts, which pass through the crossbar upon the rear ends of the buffer-head and the frame in which it is supported, their oice being to hold the ends of a chain which passes through the spring, and, at the same time, by means of the one in the frame B, to connect the heads to each other by means of a long bolt or stay, which extends from end to end of the car, or by any other suitable means.

F' refers to a chain, it vbeing the one above alluded to. It will be seen that it extends from one' of the eye-bolts to the other, and that it contines the bufferhead to the frame, and through that to the car, in such a manner that, as force is applied to move the car or train, the strain shallcome upon these chains, and not upon the bolts upon which thev 'hulcr-head slides in its frame.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination'and arrangement of the-bufferhead A, the lever D, slide D", and swinging frame D, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to `this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES BLAKENEY.

Witnesses DAVID M. Comeau, Guns. E. PARSONS. 

